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H. D. Jocelyn and Gesine Manuwald

Of freedman birth. In Rome he had friendly relations with D. *Iunius Brutus Callaicus (consul 138). Anecdotes suggest that Accius believed that literary talent demanded in its context more respect ...
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Stephen J. Harrison

Acestes (ΑἰγέστηςΑἴγεστος), character in mythology, founder and king of *Segesta (Egesta) in Sicily and of Trojan descent (cf. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1. 52.1–4; Schol. Dan. Aen. 1. 550; schol. on ...
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Acestes (ΑἰγέστηςΑἴγεστος), character in mythology, founder and king of *Segesta (Egesta) in Sicily and of Trojan descent (cf. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1. 52.1–4; Schol. Dan. Aen. 1. 550; schol. on Lycophron Alex.952). In Virgil's Aeneid he is the son of a Trojan mother and the Sicilian river-god Crimisus, and entertains *Aeneas and his men in Sicily; Virgil in fact makes Segesta a foundation of Aeneas and not of Acestes (Aen.Less

Don P. Fowler and Peta G. Fowler

Acrostic (Gk. ἀκροστιχίς, ἀκροστίχιον), a word or phrase formed from the initial letters of a number of consecutive lines of verse. Acrostics may occur by chance (Eust. Il. 24. 1; Gell.NA 14. 6. 4; ...
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Acrostic (Gk. ἀκροστιχίς, ἀκροστίχιον), a word or phrase formed from the initial letters of a number of consecutive lines of verse. Acrostics may occur by chance (Eust. Il. 24. 1; Gell.NA 14. 6. 4; Hilberg, Wien. Stud. (1899) 264–305, (1900) 317–18): whether they are accepted as significant will depend on their consonance with other aspects of the texts in which they occur. There are two broad types: proper names (especially the author's name as a kind of signature or *sphragis) and other words and phrases. Examples of the first type include *Nicander, Ther. 345–53 and Alex. 266–74 (inept or corrupt: cf. Lobel CQ1928, 114), Q. Ennius fecit in a work of *Ennius (Cic. Div. 2. 111: Epicharmus? cf. Diog. Laert. 8. 78), and Italicus…scripsit at the beginning and end of the *Ilias Latina. The second type is rarer: perhaps the most famous example is the Hellenistic watchword λεπτή, ‘fine’, at *Aratus (1)Phaen.Less

Edith Mary Smallwood and M. T. Griffin

Is the name given by modern scholars to about a dozen fragments of Alexandrian nationalist literature, preserved on papyri mostly written in the 2nd or early 3rd cent. ce. The majority of the ...
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Is the name given by modern scholars to about a dozen fragments of Alexandrian nationalist literature, preserved on papyri mostly written in the 2nd or early 3rd cent. ce. The majority of the fragments give, in dramatic form, reports of the hearing of Alexandrian embassies and of the trials of Alexandrian nationalist leaders before various Roman emperors. The episodes related, of which the dramatic dates range from the time of *Augustus to that of *Commodus, are probably basically historical and the accounts appear to be derived to some extent from official records. But they have been coloured up, more in some cases than in others, for propaganda purposes, to caricature the emperors, to stress the fearless outspokenness of the Alexandrians, who are sometimes surprisingly rude to the emperors, and to represent their punishment, usually execution, as martyrdom in the nationalist cause. This literature is in general bitterly hostile to Rome, reflecting the tensions between *Alexandria (1) and her overlord during the first two centuries of Roman rule.Less

Alun Hudson-Williams and Antony Spawforth

Aegritudo Perdicae, an anonymous Latin *epyllion narrating the calamitous love of Perdicas for his mother, Castalia. Its ascription to *Dracontius is unwarrantable, though it almost ...
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Aegritudo Perdicae, an anonymous Latin *epyllion narrating the calamitous love of Perdicas for his mother, Castalia. Its ascription to *Dracontius is unwarrantable, though it almost certainly belongs to his period (i.e. 5th cent. ce), and probably to Africa, although Spain is suggested too.

R. A. Kaster

Wrote (lost) commentaries on *Terence, *Sallust, and *Virgil, perhaps with a separate discussion of Virgilian grammar. The fragments (ed. Wessner, 1905) suggest a learned and sensible critic; Aelius ...
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Wrote (lost) commentaries on *Terence, *Sallust, and *Virgil, perhaps with a separate discussion of Virgilian grammar. The fragments (ed. Wessner, 1905) suggest a learned and sensible critic; Aelius *Donatus (1) borrowed freely from him. *Priscian cited him as an authority de verbo, but the extant artes (see ars) attributed to an ‘Asper’ (Keil, Gramm.Less

Edward Courtney

Aemilius Macer, a poet from Verona who died in 16 bce. Some fragments remain of his Ornithogonia and Theriaca; these drew on (but did not translate) works by *Boio and *Nicander (whose Alexipharmaca ...
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Aemilius Macer, a poet from Verona who died in 16 bce. Some fragments remain of his Ornithogonia and Theriaca; these drew on (but did not translate) works by *Boio and *Nicander (whose Alexipharmaca is also imitated in some fragments quoted without title). Ovid in his youth heard him reciting at an advanced age (Tr.Less

Stephen J. Harrison

Aeneas, character in literature and mythology, son of *Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. In the Iliad he is a prominent Trojan leader, belonging to the younger branch of the royal house, (13. ...
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Aeneas, character in literature and mythology, son of *Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. In the Iliad he is a prominent Trojan leader, belonging to the younger branch of the royal house, (13. 460–1, 20. 179–83, 230–41), and has important duels with *Diomedes (2) (5. 239 ff) and *Achilles (20. 153 ff.), from both of which he is rescued by divine intervention. His piety towards the gods is stressed (20. 298–9, 347–8), and *Poseidon prophesies that he and his children will rule over the Trojans (20. 307–8).This future beyond the Iliad is reflected in the version in the lost cyclic Iliu Persis (see epic cycle) that Aeneas and his family left Troy before its fall to retreat to Mt. Ida, which led later to accusations of his treachery (e.g. Origo gentis Romanae 9. 2–3). The departure of Aeneas from Troy is widely recorded, and the image of Aeneas' pious carrying of his father *Anchises on his shoulders in the retreat is common in Greek vases of the 6th cent.Less